Queen (Brotherhood of the Throne) (19 page)

“
Did you have this planned
before I contacted you
?” Kane finally asked.

She felt his resignation and worry and
was sad that she was causing him yet more grief.

“
No
,’ Brenna said. “
But
it makes sense
.”

“
By Jik, it makes sense
,”
Kane said. “
But I need you to have a solid plan. One that Dasid finds
acceptable
.”

“
Of course
,” Brenna agreed. Dasid’s
plans always worked. But then, so did hers.

“You need what?” Duke Thorold
glared across the table at High Bishop Valden.

“I have authorized my priests to
feed any who profess to convert,” Valden said.

“I know that.” Thorold waved his
hand at Captain Barton, who bowed and stepped out of the council chamber. That
left only Beldyn, who was looking at Valden curiously. “We discussed this. You
were to wait until the snow before proclaiming that you would feed the
faithful, which you didn’t. How is it that you have run out of food so soon?”

“We’ve had hundreds, even thousands
showing up at the church each morning to receive the promised food,” Valden
said. “What choice have I but to feed them?”

“They can’t have all converted,” Thorold said. “What proof do they offer?”

“They offer the proof that is in
their hearts and souls,” replied Valden, smiling gently. “The One-God needs no
other proof.”

“Well I do. You cannot feed any more
of them without proof they’ve truly converted to the One-God, I forbid it.”
He’d planned it all so carefully. Once winter, and hunger set in, the people
would be desperate and easy to handle. He could fill his army with nothing more
than the promise of a full belly.

“I cannot refuse them, Duke
Thorold. It goes against the teachings of the One-God.”

“So do your methods of interrogation
and conversion but you conveniently overlook that,” Thorold said. He’d had
enough of the man’s hypocrisy. Once he had Mannel’s loyalty secured the High
Bishop would have an accident. Who would replace Valden as the High Bishop? He’d
need to find someone suitable and start preparing them. He still had uses for
the church, just not for this High Bishop. He could truthfully accuse him of
torture – and if he made an example of him, he might even gain favour with some
of the nobles.

“We do not have enough food to feed
the whole city, High Bishop,” Thorold continued. “I made that clear in our last
conversation. I need to be able to feed my army once I begin building one.”

“But there must be time to
replenish the stores,” Valden said. “Surely we can get food shipped from
Fallad, or maybe Aruntun.”

Thorold
sat
back in his chair. His gaze flicked from the High Bishop to Beldyn, who seemed
to be paying more attention to this conversation than usual.

“And what do you think, your
Highness?” he asked his son.

Beldyn glanced down at the table
before he raised his eyes to him.

“I think Fallad has so many
refugees running from the witch haters that it’s unlikely they could spare any food
for Kingsreach,” Beldyn said. “No matter how much coin we offer them. And I
rather doubt that Duchess Avery is feeling very helpful after the poor
treatment shown her and her captain.”

Thorold
narrowed his eyes. So Beldyn was not as unaware and unconcerned as he pretended
to be.

“King Mannel, though he might wish
to help,” Beldyn continued. “Would not be able to ship very much during the
winter.” Beldyn turned his eyes to him. “Besides, he wants trade with us in
order to secure food for his own people. Have I got that right, Father?”

“Yes, yes, you have that exactly
correct,” Thorold said. He’d need to think about Beldyn’s response later and
decide what it meant. Was the boy simply learning his lessons on governing or
was there something more to it? The power of the crown was his, not his son’s -
he had to be sure the boy knew that.

“You see, High Bishop,” Beldyn finished.
“There is no more food to be had. I would suggest that we encourage every one
who can leave Kingsreach before winter sets in to do so. It will be a terrible
place to be once the food stores are gone.”

“No.” Thorold slapped a hand down
on the wooden table. “High Bishop, you will stop feeding everyone except for your
priests but you
will not
say anything to the people about the shortage
of food.”

“But I’ve given my word,” Valden
said. “I cannot turn my back on the One-God and his followers down. I cannot.”

“Then you’ll starve with them before
midwinter,” Thorold said. “As will the rest of the city.”

The stayed where they’d camped well
into mid-morning while Brenna and Dasid discussed how to proceed. She asked
Gaskain twice for information before they were all satisfied. Then she
contacted Kane.  

 “
How many men are you taking with
you
?” Kane asked.

Dasid, Brenna and some of the
guards would take a wagon and head to the coast, pretending to escort the
original shipment of prisoners as slaves to Langemore. They would not stop in
Godswall - they could not chance any of the men being captured and taken to the
mines and it was possible that someone would recognize Brenna.

Madelay had said that because
Brenna had once had altitude sickness she would probably be plagued with it all
her life. She had to minimize her use of magic in the mountains - she’d almost
died last time.

“
About ten, more if some of the
men from Thieves Quarter volunteer
.” Brenna hadn’t asked them yet but there
were a few she thought might want to come. Pater for one. It would be taxing
physically, but as a Brother he’d probably want to participate.

“
Ten
,” Kane said. “
Is
that enough
?”

“
It’s the most we can spare. The
rest of the men are needed to take the prisoners and Kingsreach folk to Fallad.
Gaskain’s already sent more troops but we’d rather he stayed on the other side
of the border. That means we need enough men to get everyone safely to Fallad.
”

“
I need two promises from you
,”
Kane said. “
One,
you’ll contact me, with Dasid, every night unless
we’ve decided otherwise and two that you won’t hesitate to draw strength from
anyone in the Brotherhood you can reach if you need to
.”

“
I can’t just take strength from
people without their agreement, I can’t
.” She still felt uncomfortable
about drawing energy from Gaskain. He’d agreed to it, even urged her to do it,
but somehow it still didn’t feel right.

“
Only if you absolutely need to
.”

“
All right
,” she agreed
finally. “
But I don’t like it. I’ll do my best to ask first but if I need
to, I’ll simply reach out and take it
.”

“
Good
,” Kane said. “
Then I
agree to this plan. Now, let me tell you how successful Eryl has been in
getting the people of Thieves Quarter to convert
.”

eleven

Kane woke suddenly, his arm tense
and reaching for his sword. The room was dark still - it couldn’t be more than
two hours since he’d talked to Brenna. He listened intently and heard a creak
in the hallway and then a slight scuff at his door. He could see a sliver of slightly
less darkness as the door inched open. Carefully he stretched his hand out and
clamped down on his sword pommel.

“Kane, are you awake?” came a
whisper from the hallway. “I don’t have much time but I need to talk to you.
It’s me, Beldyn.”

“Beldyn,” Kane replied. “What are
you doing here?” He released his sword and unclenched his fist to search the table
for a flint and lamp. “Get in here before you wake up Eryl and his lads.” The
door opened wider and then closed before he was able to strike a light.
Adjusting the flame he looked up at Beldyn and his jaw dropped.

“Beldyn, you look terrible. What
happened?”

“I’ve made a mistake,” Beldyn said.
He pulled a chair closer to the bed.

Kane swung his legs out from under
the covers, found a shirt and pulled it on.

Beldyn sat slumped beside him. There
were dark circles under his eyes and lines of sadness and defeat etched his
face, making him look far older than his seventeen years.

“What kind of mistake?” Kane asked.
“If you need to leave Kingsreach I could arrange that right now.” It would be
difficult and lives could be lost but Beldyn, alive and opposing his father, would
be worth the risks.

“No, I don’t need to leave, at
least not yet.” Beldyn smiled wanly. “But I’m grateful for the offer.” He
hunched even lower in the chair and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his
knees. “I let my father see that I’m not as oblivious as I pretended to be.”

“Has he threatened you?” Kane
asked.

“No more than usual.” Beldyn sent
him a wry smile. “But he has added extra guards to watch me. And his annoying
clerk Fridrick has been assigned to me day and night. It took me two days to
get a chance to slip away. If my news wasn’t so important I might not have
dared to come even now.”

“And what news?”

“I need to talk to Brenna, to tell
her. She’ll believe me. She lived in his house and knows what he’s capable of,”
Beldyn said. He jumped to his feet. The chair scraped on the wooden floor and
Beldyn froze. “I’m sorry - I just don’t know what to do about this.”

“It’s all right, Beldyn, we can
contact Brenna right now. I spoke to her only a few hours ago.” He pulled his
sword out of its scabbard. “Don’t worry,” he said as Beldyn flinched away from
the blade. “You remember. I need it to contact her.” He laid the blade on the
bed and reached placed one hand on it gently.

Beldyn nodded and carefully moved
the chair closer to the bed. He sat and tentatively reached a hand out to Kane’s
sword.

As soon as Beldyn’s hand touched
the weapon, Kane called Brenna. It took a few moments but eventually she
answered.

“
Kane
,” Brenna said. She opened
her eyes and squinted against the light from the fire. “
Did you forget
something
?”

“
There’s someone else to talk to
you
,” Kane said. “
I hope you aren’t too tired
.”

“
Brenna
?” came a familiar
voice.

“
Beldyn, are you all right?
”
Worried, she sat up in her bedroll, her knife clutched against her side. What
was Beldyn doing with Kane?

Wils looked over at her from the
far side of the fire, his sword half drawn. She shook her head and he relaxed.

“
I have bad news
,” Beldyn
said.

Brenna sighed. “
We need to meet
over some good news soon, Beldyn
,” she said. “
And maybe some stolen pastries,
like when we were younger
.”

“
I’d like that
.” Beldyn’s
melancholy came through strongly.

“
You have bad news
?”

“
Yes
,” he replied. “
It’s
about my father’s plans to raise an army
.”

“
We thought he’d be doing that
long before now
.” Brenna nodded. “
Kane, would he still have time to get
them trained
?”

 “
If he has them recruited by
midwinter, yes
,” Kane said.

“
That’s when my Father plans to
do it
,” Beldyn said. “
By midwinter he will starve himself an army
.”

“What!” Brenna said aloud,
startling Wils. She shook her head at him and concentrated on the old steel. “
How
can he do that? Kane, would it work
?”

“
Unfortunately, yes
,” Kane
said. “
Since most merchants stopped coming to Kingsreach, Thorold has almost
complete control over the food stores in the city
.”

“
Because he was taxing the merchants
heavily and sometimes confiscating their goods
,” Brenna said.

“
Yes. It must have been part of
his plan to allow him to control all the food in Kingsreach
,” Kane said. “
He’ll
be able to feed any man who joins his army. A powerful incentive if the only
other option is starvation
.”

“
But now the church has been
feeding those who convert to the One-God
,” Beldyn said. “
The High Bishop
issued a proclamation offering to feed those who convert, but he did this much
sooner than my father had directed. Now the food will not last until midwinter
unless the church stops feeding people immediately
.”

“
Which the High Bishop will have
a difficult time doing
,” Kane said.

“
Yes
,” Beldyn said. “
He
feels strongly that he’s doing the One-God’s work
.”

“
They should be worrying about
rioting
,” Brenna said. “
Kane, can you get Eryl’s help
?”

“
Yes
,” Kane said. “
Eryl and
I made sure plenty of people took advantage of the High Bishop’s generous
offer, I’m sure I can count on him to keep everyone calm
.”

“
You helped cause this
?”
Beldyn’s voice held a tone of respect. “
You sent people to the church for
food
?”

“
It wasn’t that difficult
,”
Kane replied. “
Especially in Thieves Quarter. In fact, to not take advantage
would be against their natures. Besides, now that the church believes they’ve
converted they’ll be safe from the witch haters and won’t be rounded up and
shipped to the mines
.”

 “
If I’d been there, I would
have been first in line
.” Brenna laughed. “
Or maybe second after Eryl
.”

“
Exactly. It’s good that we
found out about food shortages now
.” Kane’s tone was serious. “
Midwinter
would be too late. If Thorold plans to feed his army that means many people
will go hungry
.”

“
Women and children, mostly, and
the elderly and the ill
.” Brenna’s heart constricted. “
The very people I
spend most of my time helping as a healer. Thank you for the warning Beldyn,
we’ll do everything we can to make sure that doesn’t happen
.”

“
I needed to help
,” Beldyn
said. “
Usually I try not to think about it but there are times when I simply
cannot bear to be my father’s son
.”

 “Y
ou can’t let yourself be
defined by your kin
,” Brenna said. “
All you can do is try to do the
right thing. And if it means correcting some of the wrongs others do, so much
the better
.” Brenna paused. “
I’ll contact Ewart and Avery and see if
they can ship some food. But none of it can end up in Thorold’s or the High
Bishop’s hands. Kane
, ask Marcus to determine how to get it into
Kingsreach and where it can be stored. And see if Eryl can convince more people
to leave the city. We need them out now
.”

It was almost dawn by the time
Brenna settled back down in her bedroll, but sleep didn’t come immediately. She
was worried about Beldyn being able to slip back to his rooms. He’d told her that
he had an arrangement with a brothel - he’d go in the front door and leave
through a small back window that let him onto the roof. The prostitute who had the
room was more than happy to take his money and sleep until he came back, no
questions asked. Brenna hoped that the men following Beldyn didn’t bother to
talk to the prostitute - she’d be just as happy to take their money and tell
them that Beldyn didn’t stay with her.

Brenna rolled onto her side and
tried to will herself to sleep. Eventually she gave up and stared into the
dying fire and waited for dawn. Once the sun was up she would contact Duke
Ewart and Duchess Avery and ask them to help ship food to Kingsreach. The city would
not starve, not if she could help it.

Even before Dasid had the wagon
ready to go, Brenna was already exhausted. Between having almost no sleep the
night before and using so much energy to contact people across Soule, she could
barely keep her eyes open. She’d left all the arrangements and selection of men
and volunteers to Dasid and had curled up in a small meadow, soaking up the
weak mountain sun.

“Will you be all right, Brenna?”
She opened her eyes to find Neemah settling down beside her, her skirts folded
around her legs.

“Just need some sleep is all,”
Brenna said. “I got precious little last night. Is Dasid almost ready?”

“Another hour, he said.” Neemah said
and Brenna sat up.

“I’m sorry to be taking him away
from you.” In the past few days Neemah and Dasid seemed to have come to an
agreement. Brenna wasn’t sure of the details but Ronan had been bouncing around
camp with a huge grin and both adults involved had been directing not-so-secret
smiles at each other.

“Yes, well,” Neemah stammered and
Brenna smiled to see a blush on her friend’s cheek. “It’s not like we’re
promised or such.” Neemah turned to look at her. “But if you can bring him back
safe, I’d appreciate it.”

“Does he know you’ve asked me to
look out for him for you?” Brenna asked.

“No.” Neemah smiled. “But I’ve
asked him to bring you back safe too so you’ll be looking out for each other.
I’ve been told that you suffer from altitude sickness and although I don’t have
any libo nuts myself, I know something else that will work a touch. I had it
from Mother Lyran two years ago when a man from the mountains was brought into
the Swan. Come, I’ll show you.”

Brenna stood and stretched before
trailing after Neemah. When she rounded a clump of pines, she stopped. They
were almost ready to leave, she thought. Eight men dressed in the clothing of
the captured wagon guards milled around a single wagon, harnessing the horses
and tying the tarp down tight. She caught sight of a familiar figure and waved.

“Well lass, looks like yer just in
time,” Pater said as he walked her way. “Dasid says we’re almost ready to head
out.”

“And you’ll be all right coming
with us?”

“Pah, I may not be able to walk
over these mountains but I can drive a wagon.” Pater shook his head. “Between
you and Neemah a man’s like to die of kindness.”

“We don’t want anything to happen
to you,” Brenna said.

“I know lass. I’ve got my mountain
lungs the past few days, so Neemah says. I haven’t felt short of breath at all.
Now, I need to get back to my team. And there’s Neemah, looking for you.” Pater
gestured to her left. “Dasid and I thought you could sit with me on the wagon
with me. Conserve your strength and all.”

Brenna turned to find Neemah, her arms
crossed, standing beside one of the other two wagons. These wagons were piled
high with supplies. When Neemah saw her heading her way she pulled a bag from
the back of the wagon.

“Here.” Neemah handed her a small
cloth bag. “I’ve mixed some things together. You’ll need to take a tea twice a
day starting now.”

Brenna sniffed at the bag. “Sweet
Anu, what have you put in here?”

“Just a little clove and dried
garlic, plus some cinnamon.”

“And I’m to drink this tea twice a
day?” Brenna asked, making a face.

“I know it’s a bit pungent,” Neemah
said. “But it will help with altitude sickness.”

Brenna took the bag from Neemah.
“Thank you.” She hugged the other woman. “You take care. You’re not out of
Comack yet.”

“I know,” Neemah stepped out of her
embrace. “And we got all those children to keep quiet.”

Brenna stuffed the bag of tea into
her pack and searched for Pater. She quickly climbed up on the seat beside him
and watched Neemah head back to her own wagon. She’d be walking the whole way
to Silverdale, Brenna thought, no doubt letting the former prisoners ride as
much as possible.

Then they were on their way with Dasid
- dressed as a wagon guard - leading on horseback. There were eight men, all Brothers,
dressed in the uniforms of the captured wagon guards, the same as Dasid. Eight former
male prisoners, including Pater had also volunteered – six men and two women. Pater
had told her that most of the volunteers were looking for kin who had
disappeared. They hoped to find them in Langemore and bring them home. Brenna
didn’t need to be told that they feared their kin were in Godswall. There’d be
no chance to save those people during this trip.